The Human Experience

Marriage is a vital social institution. The exclusive commitment of two individuals to each other nurtures love and mutual support. [Civil] marriage is at once a deeply personal commitment to another human being and a highly public celebration of the ideals of mutuality, companionship, intimacy, fidelity, and family. Because it fulfills yearnings for security, safe haven, and connection that express our common humanity, [civil] marriage is an esteemed institution and the decision whether and whom to marry is among life’s momentous acts of self-definition. It is undoubtedly for these concrete reasons, as well as for its intimately personal significance, that marriage has long been termed a ‘civil right.’ Without the right to choose to marry, one is excluded from the full range of human experience.